Last Monday, Christopher's parents gave birth to twins and named them Vanessa and Emily. When they were first born, Vanessa weighed 6.38 pounds, and Emily weighed 8.95 pounds and was 21.5 inches tall. How much did the babies weigh in total?
Explanation: To find the weights of the 2 babies, we need to add their weights together. Vanessa's weight + Emily's weight = total weight. ${6}$ ${3}$ ${8}$ ${8}$ ${9}$ ${5}$ ${+\vphantom{0}}$ ${3}$ ${3}$ ${5}$ ${1}$ Together, the babies weigh 15.33 pounds.